It seems I lost a couple of days. I hate it when that happens.
Back in the day, and "back in the day" was 50 years ago this week, Friday nights were BIG in television. Audiences were huge and the networks put some heavy hitters in the line up. ABC's line-up included "The Brady Bunch," "The Odd Couple," and "Room 222." Their fourth comedy, "Adam's Rib," was new this season, starring the guy from "The White Shadow," Gwyneth Paltrow's mother, and Mother Nature. A married couple, one a prosecutor and the other a defense attorney, played out their marital issues in the courtroom. I watched one, maybe two episodes and it was as bad as it sounds. "Adam's Rib" was gone before New Year's Rockin' Eve 1974. At 9:00 PM, ABC played "Love American Style," an anthology having to do with anything love, romance, and yes, sex. Especially sex. Well, it was racy for 1973 but today, I wonder. I don't recognize all the names of the guest "stars" but how about Dick Shawn, Roddy McDowell (pre-"Planet of the Apes"), Elaine Giftos, Pearl Bailey, and Ossie Davis. Doesn't sound terribly cutting edge but it was something everyone seemed to watch back then.
NBC was feast-or-famine on Fridays, leading off with the very popular "Sanford and Son." Then it was the middling "Girl with Something Extra" with Sally Field and John Davidson. Think "Bewitched," only after getting married the bride told her new husband not that she was a witch but that she had ESP. Oh, the hijinks! Seriously, ladies, after saying "I do" is not the time to spring that kind of surprise.
"Needles and Pins" was a new workplace comedy that didn't last until January. It might have been adequate for 1973 but today, we'd call the workplace a sweatshop. Or worse, you couldn't make this program today because no one makes clothing in the United States anymore. They followed that with "Brian Keith Show," about a pediatrician in Hawaii. It ran two years. Brian Keith was big in the 1970s and they tried, and almost succeeded, in capturing some of his magic from "Family Affair."
At 9:00 PM NBC ran the ninth and final year of "The Dean Martin Comedy Hour." Tonight's guests were Bob Newhart, Nipsey Russell, and Phyllis Diller, with musical guest Petula Clark, and just because, William Conrad. We think of Dean Martin as a racist drunk now but he was hot in the 1960s and 1970s.
CBS tried a few different things. At 7:00 PM, it was "Calucci's Department." If I tell you the department of this workplace comedy was the unemployment department, would you be shocked to hear that it went away after 11 episodes? At 7:30, they tried "Rollout," which was on the cover of the Tribune's TV Week this week. It had all the hallmarks of strong show - produced by Gene Reynolds, who was also producing "M*A*S*H," and instead of the Korean Conflict, "Rollout" was about World War II, so at least there would be victory at the end. Maybe in real life but not on CBS in 1973. It was gone after 12 episodes.
CBS played comedy movies on Friday nights and tonight it was "The Wrecking Crew," starring Dean Martin as Matt Helm. Yes, the same Dean Martin who anchored the NBC Friday line-up. Matt Helm was a series of movies and would have captured a lot of eyeballs for CBS that night.
Comedy continued in late night. WCCO ran a W.C. Fields movie at 10:50 PM, followed by a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie. KMSP ran "Fathom" at 10:30, starring Racquel Welch and Tony Franciosa. 11-, 12-, 13-, and 14-year-old me LOVED "Fathom," and I watched it every chance I could, including, no doubt, this run in October 1973. Racquel was an American secret agent assigned on the spur of the moment to do something spy-ie, no doubt, and look good doing it. She was all of the Bond girls (ahem, "Women") rolled into one and we didn't have to waste time with Bond's toxic masculinity. It was a lot of fun, for 1973, and not to be taken seriously.
NBC ran a weekly show after the "Tonight Show" called "Midnight Special." Tonight's musical acts were Gladys Knight and the Pips, B.B. King, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Stories, who had a hit that year with "Brother Louie." There was another act I had to look up, Chris Smither. Turns out he was, or is, as he's still performing in 2023, a folk-rocker who never quite made it big, but is well regarded as a song writer and wrote a couple hits for Bonnie Raitt.
Tomorrow: As we wrap up, a visit to Murderer's Row.
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